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  An Aging Dalai Lama: Is Time Running Out for Tibet?

An Aging Dalai Lama Is Time Running Out for Tibet?

By Andreas Lorenz in Dharamsala, India

Part 2: "We're Talking about Independence, not about Autonomy"

Others are growing increasingly impatient. Kelsang Phuntsok, the 45-year-old president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, is one such anxious man. "We're very concerned about what will happen to Tibet following the Dalai Lama's death," he says.

Phuntsok sits in a cramped office and makes no bones about the fact that he thinks the "middle way" of autonomy pursued by the Dalai Lama is a huge mistake: "We're talking about independence, not about autonomy. The people have independence in their hearts. We believe in it."

"The concept of violence is not taboo for us," he says. "Killing Chinese is the easiest thing in the world. But it's useless at this stage." A hunger strike in front of the United Nations building in New York puts greater pressure on Beijing than attacks, the young political functionary says.

South American rebel leader Ché Guevara is his great idol, he confesses before saying goodbye. "We have the strength to lead the Tibetan movement in a different direction," he says.

Fits and starts on the path to democracy

In a future autonomous Tibet the Dalai Lama wants a political system with “freedom of speech and the rule of law,” he insisted in the SPIEGEL interview. But the spirit of democracy has so far failed to blossom in Dharamsala -- and efforts to establish political parties in exile have yet to yield any results.

"The democratic system was introduced by His Holiness," Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche says somewhat sheepishly. What he means is that the democratic system is not the product of popular pressure "from below," not the expression of a genuine desire for political participation. It's simply a system that appeals to the Dalai Lama. "The people have a hard time imagining a political leadership that is not also a religious leadership," Samdhong says.

Rinpoche and the other lamas and ministers are constantly mulling the future of Tibetan Buddhism. What would happen if the Dalai Lama were to announce at the end of his life that there will be no 15th reincarnation in exile? "We're considering a model like that of the Vatican," the government leader says.

Thupten Ngodup, an affable monk, is one person who could conceivably exercise considerable influence on the question of the Dalai Lama's successor. His features are surprisingly smooth for a 49-year-old, and he has a hearty laugh. He lives in the Nechung monastery, in rooms with a view of the deep valley below.

Ngodup loves flowers and dogs, and he probably has the most mysterious job in the world: He's the Tibetan state oracle, whose job is to predict the future for the Dalai Lama. His predecessor urged the divine king, who was 24 at the time, to escape from Tibet during the insurrection.

The Dalai Lama -- who likes to surround himself with international scientists, philosophers and thinkers -- has an unshakeable belief in mysterious otherworldly forces. The same seems to be true of the young Chinese woman with the pony tail, the last pilgrim he receives this morning. "You have to live forever!" she calls out in English. "Promise!"

The Dalai Lama looks at her, smiles and says nothing.

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